Twelve-year-old Daniel Dilchand spends his days in a wheelchair, the result of the abuse he suffered at the hands of the godmother he had lived with since he was a baby.
Sitting in the chair, Daniel’s perspective has changed, but the view before him is still familiar: Now, he is living with his biological mother and two siblings at Lot 619 ‘B’ Field, Sophia, in a small house, about 10 by 10 feet, furnished only with a shelf with a few kitchen utensils, boxes filled with clothes, a small kerosene stove and one bed. An older brother, Andy, had also lived with them, as did a stepfather, who neighbours said constantly abused the mother and children. When Andy died a month ago, his stepfather moved out.
According to the child’s mother, Surujdai Dilchand, Daniel, at just six-weeks old, was taken from her by his godmother. The woman thought Surujdai was an unfit mother and incapable of taking care of the baby. At the time, Surujdai was employed as a security guard. Once Daniel was living with his godmother, she said she would offer her full salary to the woman, so that he could be properly cared for.
Daniel, now a student of the South Ruimveldt Secondary School, can still walk, but it is painful, which is why he is in the chair. He recalls the day that changed his life. “Me and her niece [who also lived with the woman] de come home late from school the afternoon and I tek de lash,” he said.
Surujdai explained that from what she was told, her son was struck with a scrubbing board across his back. He later said that he was constantly beaten this way.
Some days later, Surujdai added, a social worker visited Sophia Primary which Daniel was attending and spoke to him. The boy, who at the time was in Grade Six, was asked if he was in any sort of pain. He said he was and Surujdai was then informed that he together with his teacher, would be taken to the police station where they would be questioned. The woman was subsequently given a note to have her son taken to the Sophia Health Centre to be examined by a doctor.
“When we went to de doctor, he tell he to climb up pon de bed but he couldn’t do that. I had to end up lifting he up,” the woman recalled.
The doctor discovered that Daniel had been struck on his spinal cord and that his ability to walk had been greatly affected. He was later transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where X-rays confirmed that his backbone was twisted. He was later admitted to the hospital and underwent surgery on his right foot. Surujdai was not sure what the purpose of the surgery was. Later, it was the social worker who assisted her in acquiring the wheelchair that Daniel now uses to manoeuvre his way around. “He still need a lot of help though… he can’t do much for himself,” Surujdai said.
Her words are also true of her family’s condition following Andy’s recent death. He died on July 3, when he returned home and collapsed at his front door. Friends said that the 22-year-old mason was out the entire night following an argument with his stepfather.
Andy complained of severe head pains prior to his death. Enraged members of the community believe that some form of foul play was responsible for his death. Surujdai said that she has not yet heard anything from the police.
When asked about the whereabouts of her children’s stepfather, Surujdai responded in a low tone that he left following Andy’s death: “He don’t live here any more… he move out since when we had a problem when the big boy die.” She added that the man had not since bothered her and she had not heard from him, for which she was happy.
Neighbours had previously related the abusive way the man treated Surujdai and her four children. When asked about this, the woman lowered her head and declined to answer. She said she never reported any of the instances in which she and the children were abused.
With the man gone and Andy, the sole provider for the home, dead, Surujdai could not immediately answer the question as to how her household has since been supported. She later said her 16-year-old son is currently working with friends, doing whatever job presents itself.
